Wood Beyond the World
by William Morris
"The Forest Outside the World" is a wonderful fairy tale, told in a romantic style and written in supposedly archaic English. The plot is full of tension, and the descriptions of the Tree, the characters, and the rustic landscapes are all elegantly painted. Morris was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite fraternity, and perhaps the best way to think of this story — as the literary equivalent of Waterhouse's painting — was thoughtful, mysterious, and magical.
